The post-production schedule between this and "The Papers" created a conflict in which Williams could not score both films. Thus, Alan Silvestri is stepping in to take over.

Amblin Productions Statement: “Steven and John decided Alan Silvestri was the perfect choice for ‘Ready Player One’ since Steven has worked (as a producer) with Alan on the ‘Back to the Future’ films in the ’80s and Alan has scored other films for Steven’s Amblin and DreamWorks.”

. . .and not just that -- but the presumed heroine in a Joy Division t-shirt:

Quote:

QUOTE from a 12/17 USA Today Article Quoting Spielberg on Ready Player One]The '80s “had a refreshing lack of cynicism, and in our story, that’s what people are trying to return to,” Spielberg says.

How Spielberg can say that and then use Depeche Mode and Joy Division in his little reconstructive fantasy picture is beyond me. News flash -- his entire oeuvre was antithetical to everything alternative and cool in the 1980's (like Depeche Mode and Joy Division) -- and for him to leverage alternative '80's icons is ghoulish and underserved. As someone that lived the '80's as a teen, I can say Spielberg was rejected by any cultural circle that mattered back then -- Spielberg was and is a cultural Alex Keaton -- and by him saying the quote above proves it. He was out of touch then as he is now. I really resent him coming back to claim and re-package elements of something from the 1980's that he was not apart of and something that very much identified him as part of the problem. Respectfully, he should stick to his E.T. and slowly back away. Feel free, however, to keep the Van Halen -- that's about where Spielberg belongs in the cultural landscape. His stuff is great for what it is -- there's just not a lot of substance there.

That said, I respect that Speilberg was big enough to admit he was wrong when he made Close Encounters. I may be wrong but I seem to recall him admitting that the Richard Dreyfus character was all wrong because a parent wouldn't act like that. Similarly, I hope Speilberg's eventually big enough to look back on Ready Player One and admit, 'yeah' I'm a bit of your typical Baby Boomer megalomaniac and I don't really have the moral authority to be making a movie like Ready Player One or speaking about a generation that I was not apart of.

Quote:

QUOTE from a 12/17 USA Today Article Quoting Spielberg] “In their real lives, they’re living in a debris field of the first half of the 21st century.”

QUOTE from a 12/17 USA Today Article Quoting Spielberg on Ready Player One]The '80s “had a refreshing lack of cynicism, and in our story, that’s what people are trying to return to,” Spielberg says.

Forgive the double post but search 'great films of the 80's' - and scroll across the films that Google isolates. It's hilarious just about every film listed is cynical except for the films that Mr. Spielberg had a role (and the last two Star Wars).

ET
The Breakfast Club - Big Time cynical
Raiders
Back to the Future
Die Hard - Big Time cynical
Ghostbusters - cynical (EPA and City inept)
Empire
Aliens - Big Time cynical
Ferris Bueller -- never have seen it but believe authority is presented cynically
Stand By Me
Blade Runner -- CYNICAL
Terminator -- Big Time Cynical
The Goonies
The Shining -- not really but pessimistic
Gremlins
Raging Bull
Who Framed Roger Rabbit - never saw it
Platoon -- CYNICAL
The Princess Bride
Poltergeist
Airplane!
The Thing
Fast Times - never have seen it but same as Ferris above
Nightmare on Elm
Full Metal Jacket -- Cynical (don't we all have a little Animal Mother in us?)
Blue Velvet -- Cynical
Beverly Hills Cop -- Cynical
Top Gun -- gotta talk to Quentin Tarentino.
Sixteen Candles -- never saw it.
Return of the Jedi
A Christmas Story -- nostalgic cynicism
Do The Right Thing -- Woke (but optimistic?) cynicism
The Lost Boys -- cynical
Dirty Dancing -- never saw it
Last Crusade
Weird Science -- never saw it
Scarface -- cynical
The Untouchables -- forgot it
Caddyshack -- cynical
Batman -- cynical
Heathers -- generation defining cynicism
Beetlejuice -- cynical
Raising Arizona -- cynical
Bill and Ted's -- never saw it but assume same as Ferris above
Blues Brothers -- not cynical except for Illinois Nazi's but karma intervenes for them, so not cynical

Anyway, I don't think he can say that '80's cinema was not cynical except for his own.

I've seen scenes from each but have never had a desire to see them all the way through.

But enough of that -- what reaction to my actual rant? Were the '80's cynical or not?

Sure the 80's. esp the early 80's were cynical - they had to be. With the neg press on Nam, Watergate proving we can't trust the government, what else were the 80's? I think you left out many of the most important examples of this -
Wall Street and Repo Man. Greed is good, and the lost youth generation.

And what about the Vaction Movies. With Chevy, the wild eyed optimust, the Baby Boomer who just wants the perfect family vacation. And his kids....(as they listen to the Ramones) are as cynical as it gets. I would say that a child in college in the late 60's early 70's that lived throughout the 80's as a young adult and experiencing all this cynicism equals - The Dude, you know El Duderino, His Dudeness..

Unfortunately all this cynicism has lead to entitlement and now of course, victimization.

Were the 80's viewed as cynical during the 80's, or is it just hindsight and wisdom that reveals this to us??

No, from my perspective, it was truly cynical during the '80's -- especially among teens (I was in sixth grade in 1980). Roundshort nailed it. The movies he mentioned were huge and there were hugely influential 1970's films as well, like Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' and Monty Python's Life of Brian & Holy Grail -- all mainly watched on VHS. Notably, I'd even argue that the 'Greed is Good' mantra dates back even earlier than Wall Street. I trace the concept (not the slogan itself) back to 1983's Risky Business.

Politically, from the start of the decade, Conservatives were cynical about 'dovish' & 'soft,' 'big government' liberals, and Liberals were suspicious and cynical about hawkish Conservatives. I vividly remember suspicions around the 'October Surprise' and folks wondering why the Iranians were releasing the hostages as a gesture to a more hawkish incumbent. These skeptics were derided early on but they only had to wait a few short years to be proven right over the Gipper's hypocrisy when Iran Contra broke. Folks, Bush II was an idiot for starting the war with Iraq but it doesn't get more cynical and hypocritical than Iran Contra -- the signature scandal of the 1980's.

When I scanned your post, I thought at first there may be an east-west coast thing was going on here (Roundshort and I grew up in Pittsburgh as the steel industry was going through its final death throes) but the more I thought about it, it isn't that simple. Youth targeted media during the 1980's was hugely cynical. Watch old Kurt Loder on MTV (and my God just look at the subversion in the MTV logo itself) -- but not everyone watched MTV (and I don't think a lot of people even get the subversion in the logo). I also remember reading and being influenced by things like Doonesbury -- which was/is nationally syndicated and hugely self aware-ly cynical -- but I admit the escapist Calvin and Hobbes came out in that decade as well. If you didn't stay up to watch the coolly cynical David Letterman, you were a loser. Pittsburgh's own Dennis Miller (quote: "I'm actually equal parts cynicism and apathy") manned the Saturday Night Live news desk for the back half of the '80's - but not everyone got Denis Miller (which is why I guess he didn't make it on Monday Night Football). But cynisim in media has its limits. I recognize the Cosby Show came out in the '80's too -- and I admit to never having seen an episode (I guess because I was too busy hanging out with friends and watching The Wall/Monty Python/Repo Man and going to see Rocky Horror).

So the more I think about it, the 1980's were split: on one side, there was the Alex Keaton/Calvin &Hobbes/Steven Spielberg types -- and on the other there were the types that preferred Repo Man's Otto/Doonesbury/and any other influential '80s director other than Spielberg/Lucas. And that's why I'm angry because with Ready Player One, Spielberg is reaching back and dipping into my side of the cynical pond for cool trappings but claiming that the '80's weren't cynical.

. . . so to use Roundshort's term for it, 'yes' I'm feeling strongly victimized by the whole thing. Joy Division means something to me, and it kills me seeing that t-shirt in this film.

Sometimes, this is what I miss about the raven. An in-depth breakdown of film and culture. I took what you said above and went on my own research journey. As a child of the 80s, I'm the exception as I was raised in a conservative Baptist pastors home, here in Southern California. A dichotomy to say the least. At the time my media consumption was pretty censored and reserved, so I have since chosen to you those films outside of the decade and look at them perhaps differently than one who watch them during that decade.

I digress, in my research I came across this fascinating article, which I think support your position mr. Brody

Those teenagers still felt enthusiasm for what truly deserved it ó and not just *****in' camaros, bodacious bods, and totally tubular tunes. Letting your guard down and sharing your life with friends, and belonging to an active social scene, were still earnest and sincere pursuits. This distinguishes the zeitgeist from one of "kill yr idols."

The tone of youth culture in the '80s, then, was fundamentally one of stabilization ó letting the air out of the over-inflated, while showing appreciation for what we have taken for granted.

No, from my perspective, it was truly cynical during the '80's -- especially among teens (I was in sixth grade in 1980). Roundshort nailed it. The movies he mentioned were huge and there were hugely influential 1970's films as well, like Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' and Monty Python's Life of Brian & Holy Grail -- all mainly watched on VHS. Notably, I'd even argue that the 'Greed is Good' mantra dates back even earlier than Wall Street. I trace the concept (not the slogan itself) back to 1983's Risky Business.

Politically, from the start of the decade, Conservatives were cynical about 'dovish' & 'soft,' 'big government' liberals, and Liberals were suspicious and cynical about hawkish Conservatives. I vividly remember suspicions around the 'October Surprise' and folks wondering why the Iranians were releasing the hostages as a gesture to a more hawkish incumbent. These skeptics were derided early on but they only had to wait a few short years to be proven right over the Gipper's hypocrisy when Iran Contra broke. Folks, Bush II was an idiot for starting the war with Iraq but it doesn't get more cynical and hypocritical than Iran Contra -- the signature scandal of the 1980's.

When I scanned your post, I thought at first there may be an east-west coast thing was going on here (Roundshort and I grew up in Pittsburgh as the steel industry was going through its final death throes) but the more I thought about it, it isn't that simple. Youth targeted media during the 1980's was hugely cynical. Watch old Kurt Loder on MTV (and my God just look at the subversion in the MTV logo itself) -- but not everyone watched MTV (and I don't think a lot of people even get the subversion in the logo). I also remember reading and being influenced by things like Doonesbury -- which was/is nationally syndicated and hugely self aware-ly cynical -- but I admit the escapist Calvin and Hobbes came out in that decade as well. If you didn't stay up to watch the coolly cynical David Letterman, you were a loser. Pittsburgh's own Dennis Miller (quote: "I'm actually equal parts cynicism and apathy") manned the Saturday Night Live news desk for the back half of the '80's - but not everyone got Denis Miller (which is why I guess he didn't make it on Monday Night Football). But cynisim in media has its limits. I recognize the Cosby Show came out in the '80's too -- and I admit to never having seen an episode (I guess because I was too busy hanging out with friends and watching The Wall/Monty Python/Repo Man and going to see Rocky Horror)

. . . so to use Roundshort's term for it, 'yes' I'm feeling strongly victimized by the whole thing. Joy Division means something to me, and it kills me seeing that t-shirt in this film.

The funny thing is you should be angry about any Joy Divison t shirts as the band (and new order) were totally against any merchandise and most t shirts were fakes. They only sold t shirts when they all went bankrupt because of a club they could not manage. Remember that shirt and image did not exist while Ian was alive..... very sloppy to use that shirt. They should have used a Born I. The USA jean ass t shirt to get the mod correct (or incorrect if you get my reference, cause the gipper didnít)

Actually Joe, I would argue that the 80ís created shows like fam8ly ties and Cosby show - they are just different versions of old sit coms about perfect nuclear familes with a few edgy situations ( like the one where Theo was entertaining his daughters girlfriends and offered to get them a drink....)

The end of the 80ís changed the way we would watch tv. I would mark Rosanne, and then Married with children and the s8mpsions the end of the perfect nuclear family sit com. Look at how cynical in living color was. And last but not least in 1989 Seinfeld aired. When they crap that was Friends, well I never actually saw friends so I donít know

Pale Horse, agreed on missing lively in-depth conversations here on the Raven and agreed that there's a real dichotomy in our upbringing. [Jokingly]Hopefully you aren't on the 'honor roll of the Chariot's of Fire.' (Repo Man reference -- which I bring up mainly because I mentioned the film earlier in the thread)

Quote:

Originally Posted by roundshort

I just watched the preview, this looks horrible. Dear lord no way am I going to see this cgi s storm. I didn’t see a joy division shirt though

See the picture I posted above. I think you see a slight glimpse of it in the trailer when the female says 'welcome to the rebellion.'

Quote:

Originally Posted by roundshort

The funny thing is you should be angry about any Joy Divison t shirts as the band (and new order) were totally against any merchandise and most t shirts were fakes. They only sold t shirts when they all went bankrupt because of a club they could not manage. Remember that shirt and image did not exist while Ian was alive..... very sloppy to use that shirt. They should have used a Born I. The USA jean ass t shirt to get the mod correct (or incorrect if you get my reference, cause the gipper didn’t)

As always I defer to your expertise in this area but I think you may want to check your facts on this one. I think the Unknown Pleasures album was out by the time of Ian Curtis's death. As for JD/NO aversion to merchandise, I don't know anything about that either but I know it didn't apply to tour shirts. In 1986, I recall sitting in Homeroom behind a classmate wearing a New Order tour shirt from their show in Pittsburgh. I totally agree however that the proper SPIELBERGIAN t-shirt for Ready Player One would be a 'Born In the U.S.A.' t-shirt. That's right in the main-stream sweet spot.

As always I defer to your expertise in this area but I think you may want to check your facts on this one. I think the Unknown Pleasures album was out by the time of Ian Curtis's death. As for JD/NO aversion to merchandise, I don't know anything about that either but I know it didn't apply to tour shirts.

I was in line for the Tea Cup's at Disneyland this weekend and saw a late teen age girl wearing this same shirt, and I couldn't help but think of you two and the Irony herein.

Pale Horse, agreed on missing lively in-depth conversations here on the Raven and agreed that there's a real dichotomy in our upbringing. [Jokingly]Hopefully you aren't on the 'honor roll of the Chariot's of Fire.' (Repo Man reference -- which I bring up mainly because I mentioned the film earlier in the thread)

See the picture I posted above. I think you see a slight glimpse of it in the trailer when the female says 'welcome to the rebellion.'

As always I defer to your expertise in this area but I think you may want to check your facts on this one. I think the Unknown Pleasures album was out by the time of Ian Curtis's death. As for JD/NO aversion to merchandise, I don't know anything about that either but I know it didn't apply to tour shirts. In 1986, I recall sitting in Homeroom behind a classmate wearing a New Order tour shirt from their show in Pittsburgh. I totally agree however that the proper SPIELBERGIAN t-shirt for Ready Player One would be a 'Born In the U.S.A.' t-shirt. That's right in the main-stream sweet spot.

Ok - the facts, the 1986 there were Shirts, but New Order didn't approve them or profit from them. They were actually quite pissed when they saw them being sold.

I am sorry, my wires were crossed, it wasn't unknown pleasures, it was Love will tear us apart - that was released after Ian took a long drop on a sort rope. That single is what is considered what put JD into the limelight. Almost all of Joy Divisons fame came after Ian's death and most of their singles were released after his death. Also, remember Joy Division and New Order HATED the idea of releasing singles on their LPs. New Order also hated to play JD songs live as Bernie couldn't touch Ian's voice. This lead to many a violent gig as NO would play very short sets, often with out a popular single, no JD songs, and hated to play any encores. It wasn't until massive debts from their club in Manchester made they record "Regret" to pay off tax bills and debts that they went mainstream. and then the soccer songs..

How derivative and 'me too!' given how the Willy Wonka song was just used so masterly in Thor Ragnarok last Fall. I'm sure the use of the song was just marketing types at work but I say its a warning sign. Another warning sign is that the trailer shows way too much.

How derivative and 'me too!' given how the Willy Wonka song was just used so masterly in Thor Ragnarok last Fall. I'm sure the use of the song was just marketing types at work but I say its a warning sign. Another warning sign is that the trailer shows way too much.

At least they're not pushing the Depeche Mode.

Might want to take a closer listen to the music in the Comic Con trailer that came out four months before Thor Ragnarok.

The Wonka connection seems to be a theme with this one. There was even talk back when this was coming together that Spielberg originally wanted Gene Wilder to play the game's deceased creator.